It's neck and neck in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll.

(CNN) - It's too close to call in California's Senate and gubernatorial battles, according to a new poll.

A CNN/Time/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Wednesday indicates that Sen. Barbara Boxer holds a 48 percent to 44 percent margin over her Republican challenger, Carly Fiorina, but Boxer's 4-point advantage is within the poll's sampling error. Five percent of people questioned say if the general election were held today they'd vote for neither candidate and three percent were undecided.

"In a battle between two women, female voters will be a key constituency. Right now, 48 percent of women would pick Boxer compared to 43 percent for Fiorina. Six years ago, Boxer won 65 percent of the women's vote," says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.

Washington (CNN) - Legendary Hollywood actor/director Robert Redford is the latest big gun being trotted out by the campaign of Sen. Barbara Boxer as part of her reelection effort. Supporters of the California Democrat received an email from Redford on Wednesday, complete with a fundraising plea.

Focused on the environment, the letter praises Boxer's work on the issue. Boxer has "been there with us all along, long before cameras were rolling in the Gulf," Redford wrote, referencing the Gulf coast oil spill.

"From day one, Barbara has been a champion for environmental protection in the U.S. Senate. Without her there to lead the fight, I fear that instead of learning the lessons of this moment and moving forward, we could find ourselves slipping backward," Redford says.

Redford's letter heaps praise on Boxer while criticizing her Republican challenger Carly Fiorina over the same set of issues.

Democrat Jerry Brown holds a small lead over Republican Meg Whitman in California’s gubernatorial race, according to a new poll.

(CNN) - A new poll suggests the California battles for governor and the Senate remain quite close.

A Public Policy Institute of California survey released late Wednesday indicates that Democratic nominee Jerry Brown leads Meg Whitman, the Republican nominee 37 to 34 percent, with a large 23 percent undecided. Brown's advantage is within the poll's sampling error.

Brown is the state's attorney general and a former two-term governor in the 1970's and 1980's. He has also served as Oakland mayor and California secretary of state. Whitman, the billionaire former eBay CEO who also was an adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's 2008 presidential bid, has spent more than $100 million of her own money so far on her bid for governor.

Brown led Whitman by one point in a Field Poll released earlier this month and by six points in a Reuters/Ipsos survey from June.

The NRSC will spend nearly $2 million in the final days of California’s Senate race to bolster Carly Fiorina’s candidacy.

Washington (CNN) - The battle for control of the Senate is getting even more interesting, thanks to a move by the National Republican Senatorial Committee to reserve nearly $3 million to pay for television commercials to run in the closing days of this year's midterm election campaigns in California, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The NRSC confirms that nearly $2 million will be spent in California alone, where poll suggest the battle between three-term Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, the GOP challenger, is nearly deadlocked.

"Barbara Boxer's partisan and ineffective record has finally caught up with her, and we believe this is the year California turns the corner on its economy by electing a new leader in the Senate. We're preparing to go on offense and ensure Carly Fiorina has the resources she needs to win in November," NRSC Communications Director Brian Walsh tells CNN.

Boxer raised $4.6 million during the second quarter of 2010, and has $11.3 million cash on hand, her campaign said Thursday in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Fiorina campaign said it has $950,000 cash on hand, a deficit it acknowledged.

"There's no denying that we're starting, and will probably continue to be, at a significant cash disadvantage to Boxer: we went through a tough and expensive primary and have only had a few weeks of raising cash for the general while Boxer has been stockpiling funds for 6 years," the campaign said in a release.

(CNN) - California Sen. Barbara Boxer said Thursday that voters in her state want to solve the problem of illegal immigration – but don't want to follow in Arizona's footsteps.

"They [voters] much prefer comprehensive immigration reform and they understand that if every state decides to do their own laws, we'll be in chaos," Boxer said in an interview that aired tonight on CNN's John King, USA.

A number of national polls suggest that a majority of Americans support Arizona's controversial immigration law.

A new Field Poll shows California Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer is still facing a tough reelection battle.

(CNN) - Hours before Vice President Joe Biden headlines a fundraiser in California for Sen. Barbara Boxer, a new survey indicates that the race between the three-term Democrat and Carly Fiorina, her Republican challenger, remains tight.

According to a Field Poll released Thursday morning, 47 percent of California voters say they support Boxer, with 44 percent saying they back Fiorina, and nine percent undecided. Boxer's three point advantage is within the survey's sampling error.

The poll indicates that Boxer leads by eight points among crucial independent voters.

Fiorina, the former Hewlett Packard CEO, who was also an economic adviser and surrogate for Sen. John McCain's White House bid, beat out two other rivals in the GOP primary earlier this month.

'I regret this whole situation. I gave people the opportunity to talk about something petty and superficial,' Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina said Sunday.

(CNN) – Republican Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina expressed regret Sunday for a recent, unguarded comment about her rival's hair style that was caught on a live microphone as she prepped for a television interview last week.

"God, what is that hair?" Fiorina said of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California. "So yesterday."

"Well, I was quoting a friend of mine," Fiorina said, according to a transcript. "But look, I regret this whole situation. I gave people the opportunity to talk about something petty and superficial. And this is a very serious election year about serious issues."

But Fiorina did not directly respond Sunday when asked whether she'd called Boxer to apologize.

Washington (CNN) - The U.S. Senate engaged in a heated debate Thursday on an issue at the heart of the fight over energy reform: whether the Environmental Protection Agency should have the authority to impose clear limits on the emission of greenhouse gases.

The chamber is expected to vote on a proposed "resolution of disapproval" drafted by Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, that would prevent the EPA from further regulation of air pollution from vehicles and industrial facilities. Murkowski has argued that new rules should only be created by Congress, not an executive agency.

"It would amount to an unprecedented power grab, ceding Congress' responsibilities to unelected bureaucrats and move a very, very important debate, a critical debate, from our open halls to behind an agency's closed doors," Murkowski argued on the Senate floor.

Murkowski's measure is vehemently opposed by environmentalists who say the EPA's decision to regulate greenhouse gases is based on scientific research.

"I believe it's ridiculous for politicians - elected senators - to make this scientific decision. It is not our expertise," replied Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-California, chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "We've got to stop this attack on science and health."

Los Angeles (CNN) - It's a sign of how fierce the battle for the California Senate seat could become. In the days before the California primary, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Republican frontrunner and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina are already trading barbs over national security. But one of the fights isn't what you might expect, its over printer ink.